Strahan tells defense-thin Giants he will remain retired

Wednesday

Aug 27, 2008 at 12:01 AM

From Tribune wire services

Michael Strahan isn't doing a Brett Favre.

The seven-time Pro Bowler decided to stay retired after seriously considering a request by the Super Bowl champion New York Giants to return to the team in the wake of a season-ending injury to fellow star defensive end Osi Umenyiora.

"He was very close to returning, but the great part about Michael is that he takes his time to think about things, and he is very thorough," his agent, Tony Agnone, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press last night. "You can get excited about coming back and running through the tunnel one more time."

"In the end, he felt he could not get back to where he was," Agnone said.

The first report of Strahan's decision was provided by FoxSports.com, which contacted Strahan in Greece, where he was vacationing.

"This has been one of the toughest nights of my life," Strahan told Fox-Sports.com. "But after long deliberation and throwing around a million scenarios in my head for the past day, I think it's just best if I stay retired."

Giants General Manager Jerry Reese had asked the 36-year-old Strahan to reconsider his retirement Monday, just 48 hours after the team lost two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora to a knee injury in the preseason game against the New York Jets.

Strahan needed just about a day to turn down an offer to return for a 16th season with what could have been an $8 million contract.

"I really love my life now," Strahan said. "It's great having nobody put a finger on me. You really put yourself through an awful lot in this league, more than people realize."

? MANNING HEALTHY: More than a month after having knee surgery and enduring weeks of rampant speculation about whether the injury was worse than first feared, two-time league MVP Peyton Manning finally provided his doubters with one emphatic answer yesterday: He's back, right on schedule.

"This is a significant step for me to get back out on the practice field," Manning said before throwing and running with teammates. "If things go well, as we expect they will, then I hope to be full go next week and ready for the season opener."

Manning will be limited in practice initially after being activated from the physically-unable-to-perform list.

He was instructed by doctors not to report to training camp with his teammates July 24, 10 days after having surgery to remove an infected bursa sac from the left knee. Team officials said it would take Manning four to six weeks to recover, and the six-week anniversary came Monday when the Colts did not practice.

? CHIEFS CUT FEELY: The Chiefs' kicking battle is back where it started, the competitors being Nick Novak and Connor Barth.

But not veteran Jay Feely. One day after signing Feely, the Chiefs released him and sent him home.

Their explanation for the move will wait for another day. The Chiefs announced four other roster moves, but not the one with Feely, claiming they had yet to notify the player in question. Feely, who didn't attend the Chiefs' annual kickoff luncheon yesterday, had already received the news and departed Kansas City.

Feely lagged behind Barth and Novak in two days of direct practice competition. Feely made 23 of his 30 field-goal attempts, while Barth made 28 of 30 and Novak 27 of 30.

Feely appeared to be the kicker the Chiefs were looking for when they signed him Monday. A seven-year veteran with Atlanta, the Giants and Miami, Feely has made 80.8 percent of his career field-goal attempts.

He was 21 for 23 last year with the Dolphins, who released him during training camp. Feely hit more than 83 percent in each of the last three seasons.

He was unavailable to talk about his brief Kansas City experience,

"While no one promised him the job, we were under the impression he would be given a better opportunity to win it," said his agent, Glenn Schwartzman. "If they're going to base it off two days of kicking, they probably shouldn't have signed him."

? CADILLAC ON PUP: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams on the reserve physically-unable-to-perform list, meaning his bid to return from a serious knee injury will be delayed at least until after the sixth week of the regular season.

Williams, the 2005 offensive rookie of the year, missed most of 2007 after tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee in September. While he's optimistic about the prospect of playing this season, the earliest he will be eligible to come off PUP is the seventh week of the season.

? TYREE SHELVED: Wide receiver David Tyree was placed on the physically-unable-to-perform reserve list by the Giants yesterday, meaning the player who made a game-saving catch in the Super Bowl won't be making any for at least six weeks.

Tyree, whose spectacular one-handed catch against his helmet sparked the Giants' late game-winning drive against the previously unbeaten New England Patriots, has not practiced since training camp opened in July because he is rehabilitating a surgically repaired right knee. He had surgery in May.

? HARVEY SIGNS: Defensive end Derrick Harvey ended a 33-day holdout today by signing a five-year, $23.8 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Harvey was the last first-round draft pick to sign, a lengthy holdout that frustrated Coach Jack Del Rio and left the former Florida standout behind in drills heading into the regular season.

The eighth overall selection in April, Harvey was expected to bolster a pass rush that struggled to pressure quarterbacks last season. But he missed all of training camp and the first three preseason games.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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